


Lock Him Up

by Joycee



Category: White Collar
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, Escape, Friendship/Love, Law Enforcement, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-02 02:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14534628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joycee/pseuds/Joycee
Summary: An alternative to the Cape Verde story





	Lock Him Up

Neal Caffrey and Mozzie Haversham boarded their flight for Cape Verde. Neal was subdued and, for once, Mozzie was quiet. Neal was deeply disappointed that his commutation hearing had gone so wrong when he had tried so hard to meet all their requirements. All because of FBI Agent Phillip Kramer from the DC Art Crimes department.

As the plane rolled down the runway and took off though, his spirits began to soar. He was going to be free anyway! He would always be grateful to Peter for giving him a warning signal so he could get away. He knew that couldn’t have been easy for Peter.

As he was thinking about the agent, he heard a familiar deep voice coming from the seat behind him. He thought, “I must be going crazy. Now I’m hearing Peter’s voice.” He looked over at Mozzie, but Mozz had on headphones and was listening to classical music. Neal shrugged and pulled the airline magazine out of the seat pocket in front of him.

When the flight attendants offered drinks, Neal and Mozzie both asked for champagne to celebrate Neal’s freedom. Behind him, Neal heard that voice again, saying, “I’ll have a beer please. How about you, hon?”

Neal felt a chill run down his spine. Mozzie still had the headphones on, but he toasted Neal and they drank their champagne. After their glasses were collected, Neal finally stood up and turned around to look at the person in the seat behind him. He had to find out where that voice was coming from.

When he saw Peter and Elizabeth Burke sitting behind them, Neal just stared. He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. Peter smiled and assured him, “You’re not imagining things, Neal.”

He looked at Elizabeth but she just smiled at him and nodded. 

“B-but how? W-why? What are you doing here,” Neal stammered. He closed his eyes and opened them again, but the Burkes were still there.

Peter suggested, “Why don’t you ask Mozzie to change seats with me for awhile?”

Neal turned around and shook Mozzie’s shoulder to get his attention. When Mozzie looked up, annoyed at having his concert interrupted, Neal just said, “Mozz, look behind you.””

Mozzie replied snidely, “I can’t. I’m too short. What’s back there?”

Neal sighed, “Um, I need you to trade seats with someone.”

Mozzie huffed, “Really, Neal. Can’t we just sit here and enjoy our flight? It’s going to be a long one.”

“You have no idea,” Neal warned. “Now just come on and trade seats.”

Mozzie grumbled as he got up, asking, “Who am I trading with? Let me guess. A comely young lady?”

Neal finally gave him a little smile and answered, “Not quite.”

When Mozzie reached the aisle and turned around, he saw what Neal had seen. He turned back toward Neal and asked, “What’s going on here? That looks just like Suit and Mrs. Suit.”

Peter stood and grasped Mozzie’s shoulder. He smirked, “That’s exactly who it is, Haversham.”

They traded positions and Mozzie greeted Elizabeth as he buckled into the seat next to her, “So, how are you, Elizabeth?”

Peter took the seat next to Neal, who demanded, “Okay, tell me why you’re here. Is this some kind of trap?”

Peter said kindly, “No, at least it’s not a trap for you.”

“What?” Neal questioned, thoroughly confused. “Please explain to me why you are here.”

“Okay,” Peter agreed. “Phil Kramer is dirty and we’re going to prove it.”

“In Cape Verde?” Neal exclaimed. “How is that going to work?”

Peter sighed, “Just listen, Neal. When I signaled you to run, I asked Jones to follow you to see where you were going. Then I called Elizabeth and asked her to pack our suitcases and meet me at the airport. In the meantime, while Kramer was testifying in your commutation hearing, I filled Hughes in on what I had discovered..”

“Which was?” Neal asked, keenly interested.

“Kramer has been smuggling in stolen works of art through a man who lives in Cape Verde,” Peter explained. “We believe that man is really a notorious criminal on the FBI’s most wanted list. His name is Archibald MacLeish, but he goes by an alias.”

Neal said slowly, “I’m still confused. How did you know all this?”

Peter answered, “When Kramer became so determined to take you to DC and keep you beholden to him, I got suspicious, so I did some digging. It turns out that Agent Kramer has more wealth than he can account for and there are rumors about him in Washington.”

“Really? I thought he was supposed to be this important respected expert agent,” Neal said slowly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought and a lot of other people did, too. Anyway, I had Diana pull up his travel records and I had her cross reference them with a list of stolen works of art compiled by Jones. There was a remarkable overlap,” Peter told him.

“But why Cape Verde, Peter? I still don’t get it,” Neal admitted.

“Well that was the key, connecting him to MacLeish and Cape Verde,” Peter explained. “When I was able to show those connections to Hughes, he agreed to let me go after them. With your help, of course.”

Neal wondered, “But how did you know I was going to Cape Verde?”

“Well, that was just pure luck, except I guess there aren’t that many tropical islands who don’t have extradition treaties,” smiled Peter.

Neal stared at him and said, “I just can’t believe this. I thought I was going to be on the run for the rest of my life. I was resigned to losing everything I had in New York.”

Peter offered, “Well, now you can get it back, if you want to. Hughes has committed to making sure you get your freedom if we get Kramer and MacLeish.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Neal questioned.

“”Nothing....Peter started.

“...illegal,” Neal finished. “Peter, I know you.”

Peter chuckled, “Yeah, I guess you do. I guess we know each other pretty well. What do you say? Are you in?”

Neal asked wryly, “Do I really have a choice?”

Peter verified, “Yeah, you do. You are not a priority for the FBI right now. I’m still going to try to get Kramer and MacLeish, whether you help me or not, but I’m not going to make you go back to New York if you don’t want to. I know you only ran because I warned you about Kramer. So what do you think? Will you help me?”

Neal finally grinned, “Are you kidding? Of course, I will! What’s the plan?”

“Uh, well,” Peter hesitated. “I need you to help me come up with one.”

Neal laughed, “But nothing illegal!”

Peter looked around and wondered, “Do you think we could get another drink?”

Elizabeth had given a short version of the same story to Mozzie. He stood up and looked at Neal. “Well, I suppose you have already volunteered.”

Neal gave him an endearing look. “Mozz, how could we do it without you?”

Mozzie complained, “And just like that, you are back in chains. Don’t you want to be free, Neal?”

“Of course, I do,” Neal insisted, “but this a chance to be free legally. I want that more than anything.”

Mozzie’s look softened and then he consented, “Yeah, well, then let’s do this.”

Neal grabbed his hand and said, “Thank you, Mozz. Now let’s see if we can get more champagne and then let’s figure out a plan!”

Neal looked over and winked at Elizabeth, who was still sitting quietly by the window. He cracked, “Hey, Burke’s crew is going to work again. I just wish we had Sara, too.”

When he sat back down, Peter informed him, “Well, I did let Sara know what is going on. I wouldn’t be surprised if she makes a trip to Cape Verde soon. There’s some valuable art to be recovered.”

Neal smiled happily and called the flight attendant to ask for champagne for all four them. When it arrived, he toasted Peter, “To justice.”

Peter added, “And to freedom.”

**Author's Note:**

> Characters and plot elements were based on the White Collar series on USA TV by Jeff Eastin


End file.
